a full day at the show

Yesterday was our group’s first day at this year’s Royal Windsor Horse Show, and a full, beautiful day it was.

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As I headed out from our hotel in the morning, I saw a man coming over the Thames footbridge with a hand-cart stacked with small beer kegs. And when I got over the bridge, to the Windsor side, I met this …

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Naturally, I had to stop to take a few photos and have a chat. The man you see here is the driver of this beer dray (the horses are Major and Tommy), and he said they do horse-drawn deliveries of this local microbrew, to Windsor and a few other nearby towns.

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Over at the horse show, it was a glorious, sunny day … if a bit warm.

But it was a good day to be a sleeping trade-fair dog.

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… Or to stick a cookie in your mouth, and run around with your bunny. This little guy was running laps around his family while they sat by one of the show arenas.

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… Or to watch the trade-vehicles competitors gather for their class. Would you just look at that glorious blue sky!!

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I’m still going through the bulk of the trade-vehicle photos, but here are a few of the awards presentation.

The Carriage Association had sponsored this class, so the CAA’s president, Dr. Thomas Burgess (in the tan suit), and his wife, Gloria, were on hand to present the awards.

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This pony and Pickering Float won the two-wheeled division …

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And this funeral vehicle, put to a pair of Friesians, won the four-wheeled division, plus the overall trade-vehicle championship …

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Later in the afternoon, before heading over to the Pimm’s party that our CAA group is invited to each year, I stopped off at the FEI-driving arena to watch a few of the four-in-hand competitors’ dressage tests.

I don’t often get the chance to actually watch dressage, as I’m usually photographing it. But I had filled up my camera’s memory card with photos from the trade-vehicles class, so I watched every bit of Chester Weber’s gorgeous test … except for the brief moment when I snapped this photo with, if you can believe it, my phone …

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After this brilliant test, which earned him a score of 31-point-something, Chester’s in the lead among the four-in-hands. We’ll see what happens in tomorrow’s marathon!